Final 2023 appropriations bill – selected housing provisions: Although we were unsuccessful in our campaign to obtain additional funds for housing mobility services in the 2023 budget, there were at least two valuable housing provisions worth noting: a new $85 million incentive fund to encourage municipalities to eliminate exclusionary zoning laws, and a $130 million increase in the Housing Choice Voucher program (potentially funding 12,000 new vouchers). See the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s summary here.
Final appropriations bill – selected education provisions: Working with the National Coalition on School Diversity, we were successful in eliminating the last remaining vestige of the old “anti-busing provisions” scattered throughout the U.S. Code (these provisions all included variations on language barring the use of federal funds for transportation to support school integration). Unfortunately, we did not succeed in efforts to secure new funding for the $100 million “Fostering Diverse Schools” grants program recommended by President Biden – but Congress did direct the Department of Education to use a portion of the increased funds in another education program for school diversity. Finally, the 2023 appropriations bill increased magnet school funding to $139 million (an increase of $15M). See the NCSD December newsletter for more detail.
Community reinvestment and social housing: Our recent response to a request for input from a new federal interagency task force on community reinvestment focused on the need to support publicly owned and controlled social housing, consistent with fair housing principles.
Other resources
AFFH data tool: Even without a final AFFH rule, the AFFH data tool is a valuable resource for fair housing advocates. HUD is now offering a series of online trainings on how to use the tool effectively.
The Learning Policy Institute is seeking a Senior Policy Advisor/Policy Advisor (position based in Washington, DC). The link to the job description is here.
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